More Than Just A Four Letter Word
by arrihglover4EVA
Summary: Just when Lois is ready to throw it all away, Clark defies the odds and shows her he is ready. Picks up at the end of Infamous (8x15)
1. Prologue

More Than Just A Four Letter Word

Authors Note: Hey everybody. Arrianna is back for more. This would be my first time writing Smallville Fanfiction and I think I'm ready. I have a previous story, I wrote it about Hunger Games and coming from the author herself, I kinda didn't like it. Anyways I wrote it when I was 14, I'm 19 now and after watching Smallville I was definitely hooked and then reading all of everyone else's fanfiction. I was incredibly inspired to write one of my own. This idea had been kinda bubbling in my head for a while. I think season 8 was a powerful season but there were so many things I would've changed but this story picks up on the end of 'Infamous' during the coffee scene. So… here we go.

Disclaimer: I don't own the Superman Franchise or Smallville

Prologue: Realization

Lois Lane sits outside her favorite café cradling a lukewarm cup of coffee. It has been 30 minutes since she arrived. She holds onto the thin line of hope that he will arrive, but it gets thinner and thinner as time passes. She looks at her watch and it reads 10:24. She looks around for the millionth time and still nothing. _I really hope I don't look like I'm waiting for someone._ She contemplates texting him but doesn't want to seem desperate or try to pressure him into coming.

Although she told him everything would be fine if he didn't show up, a part of her hoped he would. These past few months have been a lot on her and although she would never admit it to him, all she wanted was for Clark to hold her in his big, strong arms and tell her it's all going to be fine. First it was that _thing_ that attacked Chloe's wedding, Jimmy almost dying, then Chloe disappears with monster. It's all just a lot on her heart and she kind of needs a shoulder to cry on. _His_ shoulder.

It's also moments like this she begins to doubt herself. She could never forget the look on his face when he saw Lana walk into the barn. It was hope, hope of a new beginning, and just like that she was an afterthought. But she tried to give him the benefit of the doubt considering the way they 'broke up'- more like the way Lana shattered his heart, stomped on it, and expected him to pick it up, but after seeing the look of longing in his eyes when she saw them at the hospital she knew she had to leave.

She knew that her going to Star City had to do more with safe keeping Jimmy but a selfish part of her went to also distant herself from a certain farm boy turned reporter. After the psychotic jeweler fiasco, and she had to confess her love for Clark, things have been a little different and she knew it was her fault. After all, she knew she loved Clark, but she didn't know if he loved her and that scared her beyond reason.

Growing up she learned to never let anyone to close to hurt you, because everyone leaves, whether they intend to or not. She doesn't know how or even when it happened but Clark Kent snuck his way into her heart without her noticing. And if she was honest with herself she didn't mind one bit. So now that she can tell there is a drift between them she doesn't know what to do.

And to put the icing on the cake, she learned from a very reluctant Chloe that Lana and Clark got back together during her time in Star City. At that moment she didn't know what or even how to feel. Angry, sad, disgusted, or broken hearted. Chloe tried to assure her that Lana once again left but she wasn't going to be the one to pick up the pieces to Clarks broken heart, not again.

She'll be damned if _allowed_ herself to be his sideline girl.

No matter how bad she wants to be the one he looks at like she's his whole world.

Now nobody would know this about Lois but she truly is a helpless romantic. She always wanted to be a woman that a man looked at like his queen.

She looks at the time, 10:38. Her shoulders slump forward when she realizes he still hasn't shown. _Maybe he's stuck in traffic I'm sure he's gonna…_

 **Clark: Sorry swamped with work can't make it.**

No matter how hard she tries to fight it, a lone tear falls. She roughly wipes it away and decides to keep her head up and move on

 **Lois: Chasing a lead, couldn't make it anyway.**

She gets up from the café table and throws the still full cup of coffee away. While walking home she makes a silent promise to herself.

"Now you learn to move on. Whatever it takes, you learn how to move on from Clark. He knew what he was doing when he didn't show up. But you also have to your promise and not hold it against him. Just keep him at a distant, so he will not get close enough to hurt you again."

This is probably the hardest thing she will ever have to do, considering their friendship meant so much to her. She also knows that he treasures their friendship as well, she's not gonna pretend like he treated her as a crutch until he can get back on his feet.

It might be the deeper feeling that aren't reciprocated though.

As she walks home, there is one thought that she can't shake.

 _I'm in love with a man, who will never love me._

 **Yea I know that was kind of deep, we will see what Mr. No Show Kent has to say next week.**

 **Don't forget read and review and tell your friends.**

 **Arrianna out!**


	2. Chapter 1

More Than Just A Four Letter Word

Authors Note: WOWWWW! I'm SO happy that you guys like my story. It truly means a lot that you guys take the time not only read my story but that some of you actually review. I love hearing from you guys whether good or bad, I'm happy to know you guys are paying attention. So as a thank you I will respond to all.

 **clarkfan325:** thank you very much. Lol I can't even tell you how many times I went back and had to rewrite just so I can try and get Lois' thoughts right.

 **BigRed67:** I agree very much so, this episode made Clark look like he just didn't care, cause not only did he have her waiting at the airport, although reversing time, but he continued to drag Lois through the mud by leaving her at the coffee shop.

 **Lilbit4:** Yea I'm with you. One of the reasons for me writing this story was to give Clark a little redemption.

The story picks up a few days after the coffee shop incident, but it's not following 'Turbulence'. And now, on with the story.

Disclaimer: I own nothing (sadly)

Chapter 1: Consequences

Clark Kent woke up to the sound of his phone ringing, checking the time it read 7:25AM.

Half asleep he answers the phone without checking the caller ID and realized a second to late that that wasn't the smartest move.

"Clark Kent, you are a dead man! Kryptonian heritage be damned!"

He has to pull the phone away from his ears until he is sure the screaming torture is over.

"Good morning Chloe, may I ask the reason for such a _pleasant_ awakening?" Clark said sarcastically. He truly doesn't know what he did to wake up to a screaming Chloe Sullivan.

"Cut the shit, Kent, you know what you did." He can hear her breathing deeply on the other end and he can tell she is seriously pissed off at something he did, so he decides to take this seriously and see what he could've done to make her this mad.

"I honestly don't know wha-"but he doesn't get the chance to finish.

"You know what, let's play your game and pretend that you don't know why I'm trying my hardest not to go over to that farm and snap you neck." Clark gulped. "Yesterday while Lois and I were out at lunch, some woman came over to us and was telling my cousin how sorry she was about her 'date' not showing up at the coffee shop. So, of course, I'm curious as to when and who Lois _didn't_ go on a date with. As usual it wasn't the easiest thing to get information out of my big cousin, but when I finally did, she tells me Clark Kent was supposed to meet her there but was 'swamped with work'. So Clark explain to me what the hell you thought I meant when I said DON'T stomp all over her heart." Chloe finally finished her rant with a sickeningly sweet voice that made Clark a little afraid, so he decided to breathe deeply and choose his words wisely.

"Ok, I know that you're upset, and you have every right to be, but I couldn't go over there. I just couldn't. Lois is an incredible person and I could never be with her the way I want to. Recent… circumstances, have shown that." At the end of his explanation Clark had also been a little upset. Every time something good came along in his life, his destiny had to come along and ruin it. Why not for once could he get what he deserved without worrying about the danger?

Chloe had calmed down a bit and kind of sympathized with Clark. Knowing the responsibility of the world rest on your shoulders must be a heavy burden to carry, but that doesn't mean he should have to do it alone. Especially since Lois is the perfect one to help Clark with his walk of life. "I don't know what you mean by that Clark and I don't know about you, but everyone else is fed up with you putting away your feelings for the sake of the world. Clark maybe you need to stop worrying about other people and ask yourself what _you_ want."

There was a moment of silence before Clark answered "Thanks Chloe I think I really needed that," as he looked at his clock, he seen he had 45 minutes until he needed to be at work and if left soon he would still have some spare time. "Well I'll talk to you later Chlo, I gotta get ready for work."

"Alright Kent, don't think you're off the radar just yet. And you better make things right with my cousin or else I'll have to inject you with Kryptonite." Chloe warned light heartedly but he knew she was serious.

"Right, I understand. I'll talk to you later". Clark ended the call and started to get ready for the work week to begin.

Since it was a Friday when he failed to join Lois, he hadn't seen her over the weekend. They both have weekends off from the planet but normally Saturday was their 'kick back' day. He was planning to apologize when she came over. He knew she was upset, so he decided to go over to her place only to find that she wasn't there. He called about 50 times but every time it went straight to voicemail. Clark was prepared for Lois to be pissed at him so he stopped at her favorite coffee shop on his way to work and got her a coffee and bear claw, knowing they were her favorites.

When he gets to work he sees Lois at her desk typing away furiously which wouldn't be anything new if he didn't realize the expression on her face. Her eyes have a blank stare to them and she keeps wrinkling her nose, he realizes she only does this when she is trying to bury herself in work to block out the real world. What Clark can't seem to shake is even if she is having a bad day, she is still amazingly beautiful.

"Morning Lois, I brought you breakfast." But as he spoke, she kept typing. Almost as if she didn't hear him. "… Lois?"

Finally she snaps out of her trance and acknowledges his presence, "Huh… I'm sorry Clark did you say something?"

He just shrugs it off, "Yea I brought you some breakfast on my way here, I figured you may be hungry."

"Oh, thanks Clark but I'm covered," Lois says and holds up her coffee cup. "But thank you for the kind gesture." She said in such a non-Lois way. Then she gave him a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes, or his, considering she is avoiding eye contact with him.

This worried Clark a little bit, he could deal with a whole lot of emotions Lois threw his way but what he couldn't face was Lois avoiding him. Treating him like a stranger is worse than any form of punishment she threw his way.

He decided to follow her and try bringing up her Saturday whereabouts, tossing out the still fresh donut and coffee.

"Hey, so… how was your weekend?" Clark tried to ask nonchalantly. He treated this situation as if approaching a wild animal. Slow and steady, he didn't want her to think he was prying (even though he was).

"Fine" was her one word answer.

For some reason this made Clark a little upset, over 50 phone calls and all she can say is 'fine'? But he kept his cool and tried again.

"Right, Ok so I assume you must've been busy on Saturday. I called you a few times but you didn't pick up." He knows he's poking the bear but all he wants to do is make it right between them.

"Oh yea sorry, my phone had died". There is no winning with this woman. She continues on with her search for whatever.

He decides to just address the elephant in the room "Lois are we OK?"

This causes her to stop in her hunting tracks. Her back is still turned to him but she slightly turns her head as to acknowledge him once more, "Yea why wouldn't we be."

He ignores her obvious lie and decides to say what's on his heart "Lois, I'm sorry that I couldn't make it to the coffee shop, but please at least look at me."

"Clark, listen, I just have a lot on my mind right now. And I didn't make it to the coffee shop either that night, so just drop it please." And with that she walked out of the copy room leaving not a defeated but an even more determined Clark Kent in her wake.

See, any other man would've given up, but nope not Clark Kent. He's been dealing with a hard headed Lois Lane for over 4 years and if she's taught him anything, is to not give up on anything he's striving for no matter the obstacles life has to throw at him.

So Lois Lane get ready to meet your match because he's not giving up what he wants that easily.

 **DAMN THAT TOOK A LONG TIME TO WRITE!**

 **But finally I'm giving it to the world to see. I hope you guys enjoyed, I have a pretty good idea of where this is going but if you guys have something you would like to see happen in the story feel free to inbox or comment.**

 **With that being said see you next week, and don't forget to read and review. Tell your friends, family, and their mommas.**

 **Arrianna out!**


	3. Chapter 2

More Than Just A Four Letter Word

Authors Note: Hey guys, I'm back for more. Thank you all for the love you guys give to my story, sometimes I feel a little discouraged when writing this cause I feel like I'm writing them out of character, but knowing that you guys are loving it so far makes me feel good. Haha, I guess it just shows that being on the other side of Fanfiction ain't easy. Now time for author replies.

 **Anonymous189** : Thank you. And I will keep you updated.

 **Dani (Guest):** Wow! Thank you for that review. I didn't even think about a jealous Clark. PERFECT! And yea Clark wasn't getting off easy by a long shot, I feel like Lois was too forgiving in the show but I'm going to make him suffer for a while and then we will see history's best couple together. P.S.: I love love love the long review.

 **BigRed67:** Yea we couldn't have a story without our favorite Chloe Sullivan chewing out Clark Kent. And he will be definitely be getting the cold shoulder for a while.

 **Scarlet the Gemini:** Thanks, and Chloe will be back soon.

 **clarkfan325:** Yea Clark will be fighting for her for a while but they will be together soon enough.

Keep the reviews coming, they give me motivation. And now week three, HERE WE GO!

Disclaimer: I don't own Smallville. But we already knew that.

Chapter 2: Attempts

Lois Lane was proud of herself at the moment, she stuck to her promise and put some distance between herself and Clark.

A few times she had been about to break and run into his arms, she knew that if she looked into his eyes she would have given up easily like she had done before. But she has to stay strong if she plans on finally moving on from Clark.

As she walks back to her desk, she gets a chance to calms down. Sometimes he can really get under skin. Of course she was upset that he didn't show up at the coffee shop, but it was the message behind it all that made her just want to scream into the sky.

When nobody else was there for Clark, Lois was and she made sure that as long as he needed a shoulder to lean on she was there to help him through it all and make sure he picked himself back up. Even with the crazy world they live in, she made sure he knew that there was a light at the end of the tunnel. So if she could be there for him when he most needed it, why couldn't he be there for her?

Lois Lane was never one to cry wolf or play helpless princess, so she doesn't know when she depended on Clark Kent of all people but when she realized it, she was in way to deep. That's what makes this moving on process nearly impossible. But he has showed her multiple times that he will never feel the same way, so she's not going to hang on to a fantasy any longer.

Out of the corner of her eye she can see Clark coming towards their desk, he doesn't look like someone just ran over his dog five times which is surprising to her. Normally he would come back to his desk and give her puppy dog eyes for the rest of the day. Not this time.

"Hey Lois… I'm sorry if I upset you. That was never my intention, I just worry about you." She finally looks at him and though he doesn't look hurt, he does look remorseful and she can't help but at least accept him apology.

"Water under the bridge." She did promise both herself and Clark that they could at least be friends and she intended to keep both promises she made to herself.

She gives him a small smile that doesn't quite meet the eye but he takes it for what it is.

They both get back to work quietly, but in usual Clark Kent fashion, every five minutes he would _sneak_ a glance at Lois, probably oblivious to the fact that she knew he was staring at her.

For a while nothing was said between the two. And if Lois was honest with herself she hated the silence. A part of her wishes they could go back to before the wedding and the craziness of that day, including the almost kiss. But another part of her doesn't want to go back to the way things used to be, longing glances, soft touches, awkward but sweet compliments. No, she didn't want that, she wanted more.

It was around 2:30 that Lois had to stretch her legs and charge her brain up with coffee.

"Hey, Lois," Clark called when she came back "I was wondering if you wanted to head to lunch with me? I heard they just opened a new sandwich shop down the street."

She was hungry and he looked so sure of himself when asking her but she just couldn't give up this quick. She has to stay strong and away from Clark if she's going to get over him.

"Oh, I can't I have a lot of work to get done. Maybe next time." She saw his face and his shoulders slump forward a bit.

"Oh… uh… Ok. Yea next time." He tried a smile but it ended up looking more like a grimace.

This was the sulking Clark Kent she knew.

It happened to be a long day at the Planet for both Lois and Clark. The time read 9:19 when Lois decided to call it a day. Clark had also noticed the time and also realized he hasn't seen Lois eat anything all day.

"Hey Lois, I noticed you haven't ate anything and the nights still pretty young what do you say to –" but before he could finish Lois had interrupted him.

"Clark!" she started "I would, but I'm really tired. I think I'll just call it a night. Maybe ne-"

"Maybe next time?" Clark finished for her.

"…Yea" Lois said. She looked around awkwardly feeling a little bad for turning him down again – but only a little – "I'll see you tomorrow."

Hearing Clark calling her name stopped her in her footsteps but she didn't turn around fearing what she would see in his eyes.

"Are you sure we're Ok?" Clark asks with uncertainty in his voice.

She had to throw him off her trail or he'll try and make up for it – or worse, brood – and him trying harder wouldn't help her at all. "Yea, why wouldn't we be?"

"I could name a few." Clark tried to say under his breath but considering they were in an empty bullpen she heard him perfectly.

"Clark…" Lois finally turns around to see Clark on his feet, not too far from her. As he went back to sit at his desk, he said "I know, I'm sorry I bothered you. Have a good night Lois."

Lois could see the frustration in his expression, which made her slightly frustrated herself.

 _He doesn't understand, he never will._

"I'll see you tomorrow." And with that she left.

As she walked home she had to keep convincing herself that this was for the best.

 **Wow are these two hard headed as a bull, right. Yea I know but Clark does have to be in the dog house. But don't worry they'll stop fighting it soon enough.**

 **I guess that will be all for the week. Y'all know the drill, read and review. Please and thank you. I'll see you guys next time.**

 **ARRIANNA OUT!**


	4. Chapter 3

More Than Just A Four Letter Word

Authors Note: Hi fanfiction lovers. I'm back again for a new installment of MTJAFL. I think you guys will like this chapter it took me like all week to come up with it. The struggle is real when it comes to writing fanfiction. Haha, I'm just kidding. But in all seriousness the story will start to go somewhere. It will get more exciting in a sense. BUT, for more and better chapters I'm gonna need reviews. I'll excuse this week (only one person reviewed), but help me out here guys. Anyways author review time!

 **clarkfan325:** Thank you and yea she's gonna stop being so stubborn pretty soon.

… And that's it.

Anyways let's get on with the story.

Disclaimer: I own nothing but this story.

Chapter 3: Intervention (Part 1)

Chloe Sullivan walked into the Daily Planets Bullpen with the best feeling in the world. After becoming Watchtower, life just took a better turn. Right now for instance she is heading to Jump City to talk to a few people that may be able to be recruited into the JLA.

She would be there for a couple of weeks with both Oliver and Victor, so she stopped by to tell both Lois and Clark that she'll be leaving for a while — although only Clark knew the real reason behind her departure.

When she arrived at the bullpen and saw Lois and Clark at their respective desk, typing away furiously at their computers, she knew she had to find out the problem. There was so much tension between the two of them that people obviously avoided both them and their desks. She was sure that if they glared at their computer screens any longer it would burst into flames.

 _I definitely gotta go over and see what the problem is between these two._ Chloe thought with a roll of her eyes.

"Hey guys," she said, as though she were walking into a lion's den.

"Hi" "Hey". Were the answers she got back from her best friends. Considering they didn't even stop typing to at least acknowledge her presence let her know that something was truly wrong with them. She had no doubt about what it was either. She had talked to Clark the other day and he told her about the difficulty he was having with trying to mend his and Lois' relationship considering she won't even look at him.

Chloe could feel for both Lois and Clark. Lois was tired of living on the sidelines and considering Chloe was in the same position a few years ago. Clark was still fighting his feelings for her but wanted to show Lo

is that, if both willing, they could be something magical. Although they were both stubborn so it's hard to have a conversation when neither is willing to listen to reason.

These were moments when Chloe needed to take matters into her own hands. So she went with what came to mind. Face the issue head on. "Is everything Ok guys?"

Clark looked to Lois with longing eyes while Lois clenched her teeth and answered, "Fine."

At this rate she knew she wasn't going to get anywhere with these two as long as they were together. The next best thing she could do was talk to each one of them separately.

Chloe loves them both so dearly so it's hard to watch them fight what's right in front of them if they just opened both their eyes and their hearts. You can call it medaling or helping but Chloe Sullivan will get Lois Lane and Clark Kent together, even if it kills her… well maybe not that far, these two are very hard to deal with sometimes.

"Hey Clark, can I talk to you for a second?" She'll start with the easier of the two.

"Sure," As he stood up he rubbed his eyes with frustration. Chloe _really_ needed to help these two before they kill themselves.

When they arrive in the copy room, Clark automatically loosens his tie and rubs his eyes again.

"Is everything Ok, Clark?"

He sighs and says "I've had better… weeks."

"Why, what's the problem?" Chloe asked leaning back on the wall closest to her.

"I completely understand that Lois is upset with me, she has every right to be. My thing is, I can't change the past but I can make better choices in the future. I'm trying my hardest to be patient with her but we can't get anywhere if she doesn't let me in." Clark sighs. "I just miss her. I want to go back to normal."

"Clark, have you ever thought that maybe Lois doesn't want things to go back to normal?" Clark finally looks up at Chloe with a pained expression. "Have you been truly blind to your relationship with Lois before the wedding? Clark, you and Lois have something that can't just go away overnight. You also can't sit around and fight it either. Yeah you keep on messing up your chances with Lois, and to be honest I'm not sure if you have any chances left, but I do you that if you show Lois how _bad_ you want this, slowly but surely, she'll let you in."

"Right." Was Clarks one word answer. Although she could still see something troubling him.

She decided to voice her thoughts. "There's still something wrong isn't there?"

He looks down at his shoes as if it's the most interesting thing in the room. "You know as long as she's been back, she hasn't called me Smallville not once." He starts pacing the room while dragging his fingers through his hair. "I know that at first it was annoying but as time passed I grew used to it and now I know that when she calls me Smallville it… it means everything's Ok."

"Right. I'm sorry Clark I know you're trying and I know its tiring at times but it'll be all worth it at the day. Just give her a little time but a word of advice, don't let her win this time. Fight her like she fights you. If you let her win you're going to show her you're giving up."

He looks up at her with affection in his eyes and walks over and hugs her. "Thank you, Chloe sometimes I don't know what I would do without you."

"I know, now get back to work, Kent!" she says with fake authority.

Now was time for the hard part. Hurricane Lane here we come.

 **And that is where I'll cut it for the week. Obviously next time we'll see Lois' side of the conversation.**

 **To be honest I was thinking about putting it all into one chapter but I didn't want the chapter to be too long.**

 **But yeah, I hope you guys like this chapter. I'm kinda happy I made it from Chloes perspective. She loves em both and wants the best for them. No matter how bad they fight it.**

 **Anyways I'll see you guys next week.**

 **Arrianna out!**


	5. Chapter 4

More Than Just A Four Letter Word

Authors Note: Hey guys I'm back for more. I know you guys were waiting a long time for this chapter so it took some good digging in this brain of mine. It took a while to write and I did try to make it longer so I do apologize for it being late. Also thank you guys very much for the comments they made my week a bit brighter. So now you guys know what time it is.

 **Lilbit4:** Thank you and yeah I'll try.

 **janahjean:** Haha puppy dog eyes might not be the way to get her back this time (but they can be pretty convincing when they want to). All I can say is have a little more faith in Chloe she has plans for those two and read on. (Also I don't know why but your comment came in twice)

 **clarkfan325:** Thanks and yeah she'll use her cousin/best friend super powers.

 **FearlessRabbit:** I'm sorry but I can't answer that right now I guess you'll just have to keep following the story to get the answer.

Now… what you have all been waiting for.

Disclaimer: I own nothing

Now on with the story.

Chapter 4: Intervention (Part 2)

Chloe Sullivan makes her way into the bullpen with a mission.

Operation: Get Lois To Open Up.

She knew her cousin was going to be a tough cookie to crack. Lois Lane was definitely not one to open up to others. At all. But one thing she did know—and sometimes takes advantage of—is Lois doesn't deny Chloe pretty much anything.

So she knew it was going to be hard but not impossible.

"Hey Lois can I talk to you… in private for a second." She made sure to add worry to her voice just to add extra emotion so Lois would agree to come along.

"Yeah, is everything OK Chloe?" This is the first time Lois has looked at her since she arrived at the Daily Planet and she can see worry etched all over her cousins face.

They both make their way into the copy room. Chloe takes the same position of leaning against the wall when was in here with Clark. Surprisingly, Lois stands in the exact same spot Clark did as well.

"Ok Chloe talk to me what's the matter?"

"You tell me." Chloe replied. She saw many different emotions cross Lois' face. First obvious confusion, considering Lois was the one to be called in there, why would something be the matter with her. Second realization. She did just see Chloe come out of the same copy room with one Clark Kent. And, finally, defeat. Now that Lois was trapped in here, she knew the only way out was by opening up.

"Chloe…" Lois warned. "If this has anything, _anything_ , to do with Clark, I will throw you out of a window."

Her cousins' comment actually made her smile because Lois look so serious but she then she remembered her reasons for bringing Lois in here. "Lois, I'm sorry I just want to see you happy." Chloe decided if she appeals to emotion it would get her cousin to open up more, "Before everything that happened at the wedding," she made sure not to mention any names, "you and Clark were inseparable like peanut butter and jelly. Now when I see you guys and mention the other it looks like I told you the world was ending. Please just talk to me and tell me what's the problem maybe I can help…"

"If I were to tell you anything, one you can't let it leave this room and two no, and I mean _no_ Chloe, medaling." Lois pointed her finger at Chloe just to add extra emphasis.

"If I can't medal then you have to promise me that you'll try and mend your relationship with Clark." This gave both cousins something to think about. Lois wasn't sure if she was quite ready to forgive and forget. At least not yet but if it was important to Chloe then she could at least start the process of learning to forgive. A whole other argument was going on in the mind of Chloe Sullivan. She had a few plans for those two but they were making promises and they both had to keep up their promises so ends could meet.

Chloe would keep track of their progress just to make sure everything was going north. But before they start any forgiving they have to find the root of the problem. She already heard Clark's part, now it was Lois' turn. "Ok deal. So will you please tell me what's the matter?"

"I don't even know where to start with this man. Some days I want to forgive him and just move on and other days I want to yell at him until he realizes…" Lois cuts herself off and looks down with a contemplative look on her face.

"Realizes what?" Chloe steps away from the wall and puts her hand on Lois' shoulder but Lois walks over to the nearest wall and slumps against it.

"Chloe can I tell you something that you seriously can't let leave this room," Lois looks at Chloe with so much emotion it sends a shiver down her spine. She nods her head yes and motions for Lois to continue. Lois looks back down at the ground and takes a deep breath before answering, "I think I might be in love… with… Clark."

"Really?" Chloe said because what else could she say at the moment.

"Yeah, but it's also complicated…"

"It doesn't have to be. And before you say anything, no, he's not still in love with Lana, I know it may seem that he is, but Lois I've known Clark pretty much our whole lives and I've been where you've been and when I was in the position I seen Clark knee deep in love with her but now he's not, I can promise you that." By this point Chloe had forced Lois to look at her and had her hands on her shoulders.

"I want to believe you Chlo, I do, but I truly can't. I've seen that woman crush his heart and leave him to pick it up by himself but when she came back he ran straight into her arms without a second thought. So what could be different this time?" She could see Lois was on the verge of both screaming and crying. This was deeper than Lois would even admit to herself.

"Is that what makes you upset with him?" Maybe if Lois kept ranting she would find out more.

"It's more than that," Lois threw her hands in the air and starts to pace the room. "It's the fact that no matter what the pretty pink princess does, Clark is always at her beck and call, I mean she married his supposed 'best friend' and if that wasn't enough for him to be done with her ass, she breaks up with him through a DVD, and if we're being honest I don't regret it, but I was the one there for him after that but he was that * _snap_ * quick to flush all that away when she walked in those doors." At this point Lois has tears flowing down her face.

Chloe puts her head down cause now she is at a loss for words, but she knows what her cousin is saying, and she agrees, Lana has done terrible things to Clark – some Lois doesn't even know about—but Clark always had open arms for her whenever she came around but Chloe sees the way Clark thrives when he's with Lois. He has never even looked that way when he's with Lana. He always looked like he was just waiting for her to say they were over. Now if only she could make Lois see.

Before she can say anything, though, Lois beats her to it. "Frankly, I'm tired of living this way. I truly don't think there is anything in this world that could make Clark get over her." She turns around, ready to leave this room, but after she said this a light bulb went off in Chloe's head.

"Maybe you're right Lois," This caused Lois to turn around sharply and glare at her cousin. "Maybe there isn't a thing in this world that could make Clark's heart leave Lana's, but maybe _someone_ could. Now before you say anything you can't tell me how happy and carefree Clark looked when he was around you." She could tell she was getting somewhere with Lois. "Lois, I understand how you must feel after being left behind by Clark once, and you have every right to be pissed at him, he deserves it. All I am saying is don't let this mistake break the strong bond you guys have. You guys have come such a long way since that cornfield and it would be devastating to see all that go away. I'm not saying go back into that bullpen and forgive him now, I'm saying let him try and prove to you that he's deserving of a second chance."

Lois looked contemplative but said, "…Ok, I'm gonna let him try, but I will make him work for it." She finished with her crossing her arms.

Chloe finally smiled, happy that she got through to her cousin, "I expected nothing less." She crossed the room and gave Lois a tight hug. "You did have me worried there."

"Why?" Lois asked with a smile, pulling away from her cousin.

"Everyone was just starting to come up with pet names for you guys." Chloe could see her cousins face turn into utter confusion at she was saying. "There were a few but the one everybody agreed on was Clois."

The look of surprise on Lois' face was truly priceless, Chloe had to double over in laughter while Lois replied, "I better not here anyone call us that or else I'll gut you like a fish." For some reason her distaste in the couple name caused Chloe to laugh even harder. "I'm not kidding." Lois said crossing her arms.

Finally Chloe could contain herself enough to reply, "Yeah I know, it just shows how much you guys affect your peers." This caused Lois' features to soften once more and hug her cousin again "Thanks Chloe, for everything." Lois pulled away once again and said "Well little cousin, it was nice talking but I do have to get back to work." And with that Lois left Chloe to her thoughts. It was then that she realized she didn't tell either of them that she was leaving but decided against telling them. She'll text them when she makes it there.

She did have about 15 more minutes until she had to meet the guys at the airport and decided she wasn't going to medal in Clark and Lois' relationship issues (or lack of) but she would cash in a favor with one Tess Mercer.

If anybody, Chloe Sullivan wasn't giving up on Clois.

 ***Whistle***. **Well… that was a lot.**

 **I tried to capture Lois' thoughts the best way I could without it being an OOC thing. Tell me how I did and what you want to see in the next chapter. Also tell me how you guys liked Chloe's role in this story, is she too much, not enough or just right.**

 **Once again I profusely apologize for updating late. I know you guys were waiting for this chapter but it took me like 7 times to write this but don't worry I'll go back to updating like I used to.**

 **Don't forget to comment, favorite and tell your friends.**

 **Arrianna Out!**


	6. Chapter 5

More Than Just A Four Letter Word

Author's Note: Hello everybody. I hope you're ready for another installment of this… interesting… fanfiction. I'm super sorry for posting late again, I had a terrible headache all week and it was making it hard to even look at my laptop but I'm back and I'm better. Anyways I wanted to address that I get a lot of people in my PM asking if I have any social media and just to make sure the question doesn't come up anymore I'll just let it be known that I personally am I shy person so I don't have a lot of social media, but I do have a few (I'll post them at the end of the chapter). But yeah, this Author's Note is getting long so here we go with the story.

 **janahjean:** Oh haha it's cool. Yeah Lois will get her revenge for the pet names and yeah that's true Lois has to hurt to heal so it will be a process for these two.

 **clarkfan325:** Thanks. And yeah you'll find out this chapter.

 **BigRed67:** Haha thanks for coming back. Yeah I agree that Clark was a definite push over when it came to Lana and I do think that because Clark loved Lana for so long that's who he felt he had to be with and if he couldn't be with Lana then he was destined to be alone. And thank you SOOOOO much for correcting that I felt like I was spelling it wrong I just didn't know how to fix it.

Disclaimer: I own nothing within the Smallville/Superman franchise.

And now on with the story with the super long title.

Chapter 5: Objective

Clark Kent was anxious.

As he walks down the jogging trail at the nearby park he just can't seem to find a way to approach Lois and the giant elephant they have blocking their relationship.

After talking with Chloe, Clark decided that he needed to not only figure out what he wanted but figure out who he wanted. Of course, it's still an ongoing process for him. He knows that he has feelings for Lois, strong feelings, but he's not sure how to decipher those feelings or how to even act upon them.

But one thing Clark is sure of is that no matter the relationship, he does want Lois Lane in his life but if he lets her push him away, the Lane/Kent team will be no more.

He wants to sit down and have a serious conversation with Lois but it seems as though everything that comes out of his mouth is the wrong thing in Lois' perspective. He doesn't intended to irritate her or hurt her in any way, shape, or form, but he does want to address what has been irritating her ever since she's come back from Star City.

Clark knows that he played a role in Lois leaving to Star City, Chloe made sure he knew, but his goal is to make a way for Lois to open up to him and tell him out of her mouth that he was the one that pushed her away. It might sound crazy but Clark wants Lois to give him hell for what he's done to her, hit him, yell, blame him, everything. He knows he hurt her but getting Lois Lane to express her feelings is as rare as getting struck by lightning.

He checks his watch and sees his lunch break is close to being over but he will still make it in time walking.

Clark decides the best way to get to Lois is by taking it at her speed, so that means no bombarding her with the big questions and expecting her to break down in his arms with forgiveness on her mind.

Absolutely not.

No he needs to take it one step at a time. Battle the small things first to get her comfortable around him again and then when the time is right, for the both of them, tackle the big beast.

But of course first things first, figure out how to go back to the normal Lois and Clark dynamic.

As he walks into the Planet he keeps on trying to think of the right thing to say but keeps on hitting a dead end, knowing those starts would just end up with Lois yelling at him or ignoring him, so he just decides to start the conversation as if it was just another day.

"Hey Lois," Clark starts, he looks at her and smiles. She looks up from staring at a blank screen and sees him sitting at his desk. As he smiles at her, he thinks that for a half of a second he sees longing in her eyes but it was there and gone so quick that he thinks he might have imagined it.

"Hey Clark," Unbeknownst to Clark, Lois is having her own internal battle. She promised Chloe that she would make an actual effort to make things right between herself and Clark, and one way to start mending this broken relationship would be to engage in a conversation. "How was your lunch?"

Clark looks up from his paperwork surprised and excited. This is the first conversation him and Lois is having without any true meaning behind it. This is just a normal conversation between two friends and Clark is gonna do his best to keep it that way. "It was good, walked around Moore Park for a while."

"Oh that's good." She gives him a small smile and even though it wasn't a lot, it still warmed his heart.

"How about you, how was your lunch?" Clark asks.

Before Lois is able to answer Clarks question, one of Tess's assistants comes down and address them both, "Lane, Kent. Boss wants to see you both in her office pronto."

They both make their way to the elevator in silence. Knowing it was going to take a few minutes for the elevator to reach the top floor, Clark decided to start with another conversation, "Have any idea why she's calling us?"

Lois rolls her eyes and says "Probably to hit on you and to harass me."

Clark looks truly confused by her comment, "Hit on me? What do you mean?"

"Are you seriously that blind Clark, everybody notices how hard she pretty much shoves her body in your face. You can't tell me you haven't noticed even once." She looks at him with expectation but all he can do is shrug his shoulders. She laughs and says "You're crazy."

One thing he did notice was her use of his actual name again, but has no time to address it with her because they finally reach the editors floor.

Clark, ever the gentleman, knocks on the door but Lois scoffs and shoves past him and opens the door herself, "You called for us?"

"Yes, as a matter of fact I did. Have a seat," Clark takes a seat first, followed by a reluctant Lois.

"How are you're stories coming along?" Tess starts with her fingers entwined on top of her desk.

Clark answers first, "Mines going good. I'm sure I'll be done by the end of the week." He finishes with his back straight and a smile on his face. Thanks to his super hearing he can hear Lois scoff and say 'kiss up'.

Tess now looks to Lois, "And you?"

Lois straightened her back as well, but in a more cocky way then Clark. "It's coming along, I'm following up on some leads that I think will-"

"Drop them, both of you. I'm putting you on a new story." Tess cuts off Lois and stands up and walks to the drawer and pulls out a manila folder and drops it on the desk.

At this point Lois and Clark have been sitting in shocked silence. She just cut off their stories with nothing more than a few words.

Lois is the first one to break the silence. "What the hell do you mean drop it? Do you know how hard it was to even get some people to even talk to me, it cost me a month's pay to bribe people for some answers. And you want me to just drop it?" Clark can see she's pretty much seething with anger and puts a hand on her arm but she snatches it away and waits for Tess to answer.

"Trust me miss Lane, this story is worth the trade." She motions for Lois to look at the folder but Lois continues to glare at Tess. Clark is still sitting there, quiet and watches the interaction between these two women who obviously can't stand each other.

Clark decided to open the folder and read up on what the new assignment is. They're going to California for a press conference about the missing people cases. Clark knows a lot about this, he's even went to try and help every weekend when he's off of work and not patrolling. Sadly, every time he thinks he's onto something he hits a dead end and has to come home with a heavy heart. The kidnappers have done a good job in staying in the dark, and everyone of any age has been kidnapped: from small children to the elderly. The police think they know who is behind this but they have no evidence to back it up until recently. This is why they are holding the conference. The past conferences have been open to the public but now that they have a possible location, they don't want anyone to risk their lives and go. So since it's a closed conference, so you would have to have been invited to go sit down in the conference. And only the biggest papers would cover this story. Tess was right this could mean a significant change in their careers.

"We're going to California." Clark says, it was less of a question and more of a statement. Lois finally breaks eye contact with Tess and looks to Clark. She takes the folder from his hands and reads over everything he had just read. He can see her just simply skimming over it and her eyes widen with recognition. "Wow, how did you get these? You know what I don't think I want to know. This is awesome. This is big stuff, and I—wait a minute. We're doing this together? I don't share bylines."

"You and Clark write your best stories together. You can either do this with him or not at all." Lois slumps her shoulders at Tess's words and glares at her once more. "Now, if you guys don't have any questions, you are dismissed."

Clark semi-raises his hand while looking at the details once again, "Yeah I actually have a question-"

"If it's about travel and how long you're staying, it's in the back pages." Tess says while getting back to her computer.

"Oh, ok." Lois and Clark start to make their way out of her office. About to close the door Clark realizes he has one more question, "Hey Tess,"

"Yes, Clark." Tess looks up from her computer, exasperated.

"What made you give us the story?"

It takes her a minute to think of the answer and actually smiles a genuine smile. "Let's just say I had someone convince me that you and Lois have a lot of potential."

Clark nods and head out the door leaving Tess to her own thoughts. As he heads toward the elevator to catch up with Lois, he can't help but feel excited for this adventure they are about to take.

"Learn how to keep up Clark, we don't have all day." Lois snaps her fingers at him while holding open the door of the elevator so he runs the rest of the way.

One thing he did catch on is her use off his name _again._ He decides this isn't a big issue between them so maybe it's okay to talk about. "How come you call me that?"

"Call you what?" She looks truly confused and he wonders if she even realizes.

"Clark." He sticks his hand in his pockets, unsure how she's gonna react to this conversation.

She snickers and says, "I was under the impression that it was you're name."

"Well yeah, but what happened to Smallville." He gets a little hopeful since she hasn't chewed his head off or tried to avoid the conversation.

"Thought you despised that nickname." Her eyes narrowed at his as if unable to figure him out.

"At first maybe but as time passed I grew used to it. But only you can call me it, Chloe tried once and it sounded weird." He smiles and she actually smiles back at him. Of course it's a wary smile but a smile nonetheless.

"You better believe it." The elevator finally reaches their floor and as Clark watches Lois walk off he finally feels as if maybe, just maybe, everything will be okay.

 **I tried to make a fluffier, less angsty, Clois chapter, thank you guys for keeping up with me. I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter.**

 **If you haven't figured it out, yes it was Chloe that convinced Tess to give them the story (I will get deeper into that in later chapters), and honestly that was the hardest part of the chapter, to figure out a good story line to set them on. We will see the details of the story in the next chapter.**

 **But yeah that is the story for this week and as promised I'll give the social medias I'm comfortable sharing.** **Snapchat:** **arrianna2014 and** **Instagram:** **arrianna_buttram.**

 **And with that said I'll see you guys next week.**

 **ARRIANNA OUT!**


	7. Chapter 6

More Than Just A Four Letter Word

Author's Note: Hey everybody, I'm back. And if I'm being honest with you all, it takes me all week to come up with the idea. Sadly I'm starting to come down with writers block but I, will not leave you guys hanging, you'll have something from me that's decent enough to read. On a better note, have you guys seen the trailer for the new Justice League movie and Walking Dead? AAAAAHHHHHHHH! I loved it. Comic con is one of the best time of the year (I'll have to go one year).

 **OddDangerSpiritualCyberLover17:** Thank you! And cool, nice to know.

 **janahjean:** Haha yeah, he's realizing the mistakes of his ways, and yeah this chapter was pretty much a filler.

 **BigRed67:** Haha yeah, our BDA (big dumb alien) isn't as dumb as we think he is. And yeah I also like to believe that the Kryptonians differ from humans in that way, they don't think with feelings as much as we humans do and that can sometimes get Clark in trouble, (especially with the ladies) but with him growing up on earth he can realize the difference and at least try to do better. Also life hack, if you fall behind, it's better cause you don't have to wait for the next chapter (until you catch up that is).

 **clarkfan325:** Thank you and yeah, they sure will bring a new shine to these city streets.

Disclaimer: I don't own Walking Dead, Justice League or Smallville.

Chapter 6: Backgrounds

Lois Lane was nervous.

As she pulled up to the Kent farm she can't help but feel guarded. She and Clark have been on speaking terms most recently since Chloe had stopped by the planet and Tess assigned them both to the story in California.

Later that night Clark had called and suggested she come over tomorrow after work to discuss the information on their new assignment. She had been really skeptical about it at first, she liked the slow road they were taking things and if she pushes herself to fast then she'll end right back on heart break road. And she doesn't have time in her life to ride that rollercoaster again.

In the end she agreed because Clark informed her they were supposed to leave the next day, so they needed to go over the details together—even though they could've done it over the phone, they did get separate folders. She brought her bag for the one night and put the suitcase in the trunk, they both figured it would be easier to carpool to the airport to save gas.

She takes a deep breath and steps out of her car and before she even sets her feet on the ground she can hear the familiar bark of a certain Golden Retriever.

"Hey Shelbs, how you doing?" She reaches down and pets the dog while also avoiding his licks. She'll be in a sneezing fit as it is, might as well not add 'smell like dog slobber' to the list.

Shelby starts barking to call Clark in his own way and, normally, he comes outside. He's a little confused at first but he sees Lois fighting off Shelby's kisses he understands. This is the first time Lois has come to the farm since returning from Star City.

"Alright, boy leave her alone, I think she's had enough." As Clark walks over to them and Shelby runs off back into the house, Lois gets a look at him and notices he still has his work clothes on.

Without thinking she says the first thing that comes to mind, "You haven't took your clothes off yet?"

To anyone else their reactions would've been priceless, but at the moment no one was laughing, Clark looked to Lois with surprise and Lois looked like she just seen a ghost, denying that those words came out of her mouth.

They both stand there looking baffled—Clark's more humored—for about 8 more seconds before Lois tries and save what little courage she has left to correct herself. "I… I meant w…why do you still look dressed for work? We did get off a few hours ago."

Now he couldn't straight tell her that he had to make a few saves after work, so he goes with half the truth "Well I figured it's been a while before since you've had a real home cooked meal, so I stopped by the store before heading home and just recently got home." It wasn't a complete lie, he did just get home but he left the store about an hour ago.

"Oh, yeah, Ok. While we eat we can also go over the story." As she says this she puts her hair into a ponytail, and while brief she could see Clarks face fall before he regains his composure.

"Yeah the story," he clears his throat a little bit and says "Did you bring your file?"

"Of course," she pulls her suitcase out the trunk and the next thing he knows, the suitcase is now in his hands. "Take these up to my room, will you please, I need to hop into the shower before we do any looking over."

He starts to say something but stops himself, knowing they would just fall to deaf ears, and puts her bags in his old room.

As Lois steps into the shower she can't help but think of how easy that conversation between them flowed. She doesn't want to over think every little thing they do from now on but she is happy that maybe they might not be lovers, and it's still a process for her to move on but she does always want to be friends with Clark. He's such a natural occurrence in her life that she would be more disappointed if he wasn't in her life at all—let alone something more.

About an hour later, Lois finally steps out of the bathroom, the time now reads 8:26pm. It's been a long time since she was able to take a marathon shower. The hot water at her apartment runs out after 25 minutes and that certainly isn't enough time to wash her face, body and hair, be able to do a little karaoke, and have time to just stand under the water.

She heads down and smells something delicious. She can tell he made Lois' favorite dish, meat loaf, and it makes her wish she could fly down the stairs to get to the kitchen just a little faster.

Surprisingly, though, when she gets to the kitchen she wouldn't be able to tell if he cooked. The kitchen looks absolutely spotless. She knew she wasn't in the shower _that_ long.

"Hey Clark," Lois starts smoothly.

Clark turns around from putting the mashed potatoes and green beans on the plate to turn around and acknowledge her presence. "Hey, I was wondering when you were gonna get out, you hungry yet?" He turns around and instead of going to the kitchen table, he sets the plates on the folding TV trays. "I figured we'd eat out here so we can kill two birds with one stone." Clark said referring to eating dinner while going over the files.

"Yeah we can do that. Hey, how did you get the kitchen cleaned so quickly?" she asked while walking over to the couch.

"Oh just multi-tasking. Every time I was done with one thing I would clean the dishes or something. So what should we start on first." It was quite obvious to Lois that Clark was trying to get her off his trail, but she let it slide this once because they had a lot to do.

They start to read over the current details of the case in silence while enjoying the meal. It takes Lois about 25 to 30 minutes to go over the details but for some reason it takes Clark about 15 minutes longer.

"Okay I'm ready. Did you read through yours already?" he asks. The look he receives in answer of his question almost makes him laugh, but he refrains. He does keep a smile on his face while he asks "What?"

"Yes I finished reading mine. I could've read it twice and still be done before you." She says in a matter of fact tone.

He let out a small chuckle, "Well, not everyone can read as fast as you can Lois and I was trying to pay attention to the special details."

She rolls her eyes, _typical farmboy,_ "Well, anyways, let's go over this before I get tired." She scoots back a little to get herself situated for a cliff notes version of what she just read.

"Okay, so far there have a total of 19 people missing and each of them have been captured 2 days apart from each other. No one has been killed yet but the police doesn't want to wait until someone does before they take serious action. People have been captured from different ages, the youngest being 12 and the oldest being 52. The police have a lead as to where the people may be, a 14 year old was almost captured as well but fought her way out, thank goodness and luckily she got a good look at her attacker."

Lois cuts him off to continue where he left off, "Right she said he looked to be in his mid-thirties, had a scar coming down from his left eye to his right cheek. She also said it looked like he had a tattoo right above his eyebrow." She opens the folder again and pulls out a picture of a man that fits the description. "Police have the man in custody, they say his name is Demetrius Zanor. He wasn't much help though, he's known by people as The Clue because he gives cryptic messages and kept throwing them around when police when interrogating him."

She pulls more pictures out of houses and what look like Zanor and his family. Clark picks up where she left off. "Apparently he has a total of 4 kids and 2 that may or may not be his. They live in a city named Horace. According to the mothers he's a good father but he can have a temper at times and can be very abusive to both the kids and the 2 mothers. In the past he's been arrested 12—wow really—times for drugs, domestic abuse, child abuse, theft, and attempted kidnapping." He flips to the page that had caught his attention the most, "He is known to be in this gang, known as Intense Quota, and apparently people like to avoid them like the plague, there are about 15 of them—as far as the police know—and 4 of them have been recently charged with attempted murder," he feels a shiver run down his spine.

He can't help but think how dangerous this city is. Out of the corner of his eyes he can see Lois suppress a yawn. He checks the time and sees its 10:24pm. He guesses it should be time to start wrapping it up. "Right, so the press conference will be held on Thursday and pretty much it's going to be about what the police plan to do to get the people back and what actions need to be taken to make sure everybody comes out safe and unharmed."

"Right," Lois says skimming over the pages one last time "We are staying at the Breccan Hotel for a week, enough for us to attend the conference and write the story. If we're lucky, we can probably do some investigating on our own." She said with a knowing smile at the.

Lucky—or maybe unlucky—for Clark he knew exactly what that smile meant, it meant trouble. "Lois, maybe we should stay on the sidelines for this one, I mean it sounds like the police have this handled."

She gave him an irritated look and said, "Clark the first victim went missing over 2 months ago, if the police had it covered, they would be breaking down doors left and right to get them home," she starts to get up and heads to the stairs, "now I'm not saying they don't know how to do their job, I'm saying they could probably use some help from mwah."

Clark knows that when Lois sets her mind on something, it'll take a bunch of effort to sway her from it, but he'll do his best to get her back home in one piece.

Lois, about to disappear into the room for the night, remembers one more thing, "Hey," she waits till Clark is facing her to continue, "Thanks for dinner."

Clark smiles "Anytime, goodnight Lois," he wishes.

"Goodnight… Smallville," she smiles and closes the door.

Before going to bed she thinks, everything might not be great between them now, but it will be.

 **Yay! She called him his beloved nickname.**

 **I'm sorry to those who were hoping they would go to California this chapter but I wanted to give you guys a little background info on the story they'll be doing. I, personally, live in Cali and no, none of these are real places, people, or cases.**

 **But they will definitely be going next chapter.**

 **With that being said, I'll see you all next week.**

 **(pretend piece fingers) Arrianna Out!**


	8. Chapter 7

More Than Just A Four Letter Word

Authors Note: Hey my lovely readers. I'm back and ready for more. I want to apologize in advance, this chapter seemed a little bit rushed but I was already falling behind, my laptop broke last minute and I didn't save the chapter I was working on, I wanna keep this AU short but one thing I do want to say is there will be 6 more chapters left. I have a good idea where this story is going so just want to give you guys a heads up.

 **BigRed67** : Haha yeah let's hope he can handle it all.

 **janahjean:** Haha I couldn't do a sex scene even if I tried, I'd be too weird, making awkward jokes, it'd be too cringey. But maybe one day, this won't be my last Smallville fic. Also I vision Tom for this but sometimes Henry can cloud my mind and make an appearance. And thanks I love making Lois go hard on Clark, she wasn't mad enough for me in the show, he needed the silent treatment for a long time, but I feel like Clark is gaining a little bit of trust back and with this trip, he can either do better or fuck it all up.

 **clarkfan325:** Thanks! I appreciate it.

Disclaimer: I own nothing

Chapter 7: Arrival

Clark Kent was a dead man.

He has being trying to wake Lois up for the past 30 minutes and every time, she would swat him away asking for a few more minutes. At first he had no problem giving her more time, but their flight leaves in an hour.

Knowing it'll take about half the time for her to get ready and the airport being 15 minutes away, they really need to get a move on. So now here he is standing over a sleeping Lois with a pitcher of water in his hands, ready to pour it over her.

"Lois, last chance to get up. We really need to go." He would at least give her one more chance to stay dry.

But in normal Lois fashion she said, "Go 'way Smallville." And turned over. A part of him almost felt bad for what he was about to do. Then the bad feeling went away.

"You asked for it." Then he proceeded to dump the water all over her.

Then all hell broke loose "WHAT THE HELL!" she jumped out of the bed and attacked a hysteric Clark. "I swear I will kill you Clark Kent. I will dig your grave and dance on it." While saying this she was throwing blows at his chest, arms, face, anything she could reach. He thanked God he wasn't human or else these blows would have lasting effect.

"Ok, Ok, I'm sorry." He held her arms in his hands and looked in her – extremely pissed off- eyes. "I had to. You wouldn't wake up and have a little less than an hour to catch our flight."

Her features soften a bit and she looks at the time. After a while she speaks again, "Fine, I'll start getting ready but you have to make breakfast."

She shoves him out the room to get ready for the trip. Little did she know, he already made breakfast.

Later as they were boarding the plane, Clark had to remember to control his strength, if he gripped the seats any harder, they would surely break in his hands. He's always been a little apprehensive of heights, and being on a plane for about 3 hours surely won't help him calm his nerves.

Lois notices how tense Clark looks and puts her hand on his arm, "You alright, Clark, you look like your about to puke."

"I…I hate heights."

If Lois didn't see the actual worry on his face she would've laughed at his comment. How can someone, with a hero complex, like Clark Kent be afraid of heights.

Instead she slid her hand down his arm and gripped his hand in hers. "I'll keep you safe big guy."

Clark, who had found the window to be extremely interesting, finally looked Lois in the eyes and realized there was no joking or teasing, she was sincere with her words. A part—a huge part—of him wanted to kiss her, but he knew this wasn't the place or time, kissing her would only make her build her already high walls even higher. In the end he decided the best way to thank her was doing exactly that, "Thank you Lois." He looked deep into her eyes and made sure he was saying everything he couldn't say aloud.

They share their intimate moment a little longer until they hear the Captain on the overhead saying they are taking off and remain seated.

As they are leaving the airport platform, Clark squeezes Lois' hand a little tighter but remembering not to hurt her. Although he isn't as nervous as he first was, it seems that Lois can make even the man of steel soft.

3 hours later, they make it to LAX and Clark has never been so happy to see land. Not only was he nervous to be on the flight itself, but he had to eschew Lois from fighting one of the flight attendants. In all honesty, the flight attendant must've woke up on the wrong side of the bed cause she was really rude. Although, the flight attendant had the power of throwing them off the plane so he held a very angry Lois Lane back.

She seemed to blow off her steam after getting off the plane because now as they were driving through the LA city, she looked like a kid at a candy store.

"Wow, Metropolis sure has competition in play. This place is huge."

Clark, ever curious asks, "The Generals never dragged you here?"

She finally turns towards him and, if possible, looks even more excited. "No, actually. It's just as much a surprise for you as it is for me."

He hummed in acknowledgement and they fell into a comfortable silence. After a while Lois turned up the radio. "Might as well not sit in _complete_ silence." It takes her about a minute of flipping through stations before settling on one. The radio plays a song by Nickelback called Far Away.

 **Who was I to make you wait/ Just one chance/ Just one breath**

 **Just in case there's just one left/ 'Cause you know, / you know, you know**

He looks out of the corner of his eye at Lois and sees she has her eyes closed with her head back, enjoying the music. He can't help but feel like the song's speaking to him. He's messed up so many times when it came to him and Lois' relationship. He feels like if he messes up this time, there surly will be no more Lois and Clark.

Lois has given him chance and chance again and he's starting to realize Lois might mean more to him than he's willing to admit.

He can't count the many times he's wanted to tell her his secret but fear always comes into play, not only for her safety—because everybody knows that Lois Lane is a danger magnet—but she might look at him differently if she found out.

This—and other factors—was why he didn't walk across the street to the coffee date he had with Lois. Even though it was less than 10 steps away, Clark knew he couldn't drag her through any more pain. If he had crossed that street that night he would've had to address feelings that he was sure he wasn't ready to face.

The GPS had dragged him out of thoughts as she let him know that they arrived at the hotel.

Clark parks the car and as they get out they finally get a good view of the enormous hotel.

"Wow," Lois states.

"Right," Clark replies. Knowing exactly what she meant. Horace isn't a huge city so it's about 10 minutes away from the hotel they'll be staying at in LA. When they googled the Breccan Hotel it looked big in the pictures but there was nothing compared to seeing it in person.

They make their way inside and it looks like modern day elegance. It looks absolutely magnificent, there is a fountain right in the middle of the lobby and couches that look too good to sit on.

"I wonder how Tess got us into _this_ place." Lois comments while looking around.

"Uh huh" is Clarks reply, while also taking the time to look around.

It's a miracle they didn't knock into anyone while walking, considering they weren't watching where they were going but they did almost walk past the receptionist desk. "Hello," said the woman at the desk. She was a bubbly blonde that was fair skinned that was showing a little more cleavage than necessary. "Welcome to the Breccan Hotel, where we serve _all_ your needs." She evidently winks at Clark and Lois rolls her eyes.

Clark clears his throat sheepishly and says, "We're here to sign in."

"Can I get your name please?" asks the receptionist.

"Clark… Kent"

As the receptionist is typing, Lois takes another glance around the room and Clark looks down at his phone, texting his mom to let her know they made it. They didn't see the fall of the receptionists' face as she cleared her throat. "Well Mr. and Mrs. Kent," this caught both of their attention, "Ryan will show you to your room."

She gave them one last smile, which seemed a little forced, and left.

"What did she call us?" asked Lois. Clark just continued to stare ahead without answering her question.

As 'Ryan' walks them to their room, Clark finally collected himself and answered Lois' question, "I'm sure she just assumed we were married. I wouldn't stress it."

Lois nodded, but when they walk into their room it seems like Clark spoke too soon. As they walked into their suite, they seen it looked like it was a honeymoon suite. With the heart shaped bed, and flowers all over the place.

Lois turned to Ryan who was still standing there, looking at them with a kind smile. "I'm sorry, I don't think this is the right room."

His smile fell as he took a look at the clipboard that was in his hand. "Lois and Clark Kent correct?"

"No, Lois Lane and Clark Kent."

"Oh well, I apologize, but there are no other rooms available." They both let out frustrated sigh. Ryan left the room and left Lois and Clark to their thoughts.

"You know," Clark started, waiting for Lois to turn towards him. "This might not be so bad."

"What do you mean?"

"Just think of it this way, everything we do or eat or order, won't be coming out of our pockets." He stuffed his hands in his pockets in a confident manner, knowing Lois would get a kick out of his revelation.

And it seemed he had the right suspicion because the change in her facial expression was worth it.

"You're right Smallville, I'm sure Tess gave us the lovers suite just to bother us, so payback will be a bitch."

Lois turns and starts to unload their things. Clark decides to look around the room, nothing but the flowers and bed seem to have the 'newlywed' effect to it. The kitchenette is made with a marble feel to it and the bathroom can be mistaken for a spa room, it's almost as big as the room itself.

"Clark come help me put the stuff away, we don't have all day!" yelled Lois.

For a second, he thought about what it would be like to be on a real honeymoon with Lois here. He quickly shook that thought from his mind, he was having strong feelings for Lois nowadays but lightyears away from the thought of marriage.

He sighed as he walked back into the main room. _This is gonna be a hell of a week._

 ***sigh* This isn't where I was originally going with this chapter but I had to give you guys something.**

 **I'm so sorry guys, this is pretty much a filler chapter but I will give you guys so much more next week, they'll be going to press conference and get into a little bit of trouble.**

 **Well I will be getting my laptop fixed and recover my chapter I was working on. Until next time my readers.**

 **Arrianna Out.**


	9. Chapter 8

More Than Just A Four Letter Word

Authors Note: Hello everybody, welcome back. I GOT MY LAPTOP FIXED! I'm happy that you guys are still sticking with me, but like I said in the last chapter this story will be coming to an end pretty soon, but I will be back (as long as you guys want).

 **janahjean:** Yeah, you inspired me to do the honeymoon suite scene. *face palm* You're right, they should rest, I completely forgot about it, I'll mention it in this chapter.

 **scimas:** Oh, haha, I'm sorry you don't like my story, but hey, all reviews are good reviews.

 **BigRed67:** Haha yeah, we'll get deeper into how they got their room once they get back home and OOOOOHHHH! You have kids, that's so cool lol tell them I said hello.

PS: If you guys do follow me on any social medias let me know lol I would **love** to talk to you guys.

Disclaimer: Not mine

Chapter 8: Conference

Lois Lane was serene.

Last night, after they put half of their things away, Lois got hungry so Clark decided to order rooms service but before the food came to their room Lois fell asleep. She's surprised she hadn't passed out sooner.

She slept for a few hours before her stomach won the battle, surprisingly though, when she woke, she found herself on the couch, wrapped in a sleeping Clarks arms.

So now as she looks at a sleeping Clarks face, she remembers the reason she fell in love with the man in the first place, under the armor he wears all the time, is a big fish in a small pond just trying to find his way in this crazy world.

But her private piece of heaven was ruined when her thoughts clouded her mind and she reminded herself if she keeps running before learning how to walk, she'll fall and end up hurt… again. So she forced Clarks hand off her waist and walked towards the mini-kitchen to prepare some food.

She was happy she and Clark are getting back on track, but she's smart enough to know when to not move too quickly.

She slammed the microwave door closed, and Clark jumped up from his sleep. She turned around and started the coffee pot while Clark rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. "Morning Lois," he stands up and stretches his arms. Lois is still trying to clear her mind of waking up with Clark, so she doesn't answer with words, she just lifts her eyebrows in acknowledgment.

He doesn't seem to notice her stand off-ish vibe. He lets her know he's going to hop in the shower so they can start their day. The press conference doesn't start till 12 o clock. She averts her eyes to the digital clock on the nightstand and sees it's only 9am.

Forgetting all about her appetite, Lois decided to go for a jog at the park across the street, that way she can clear her head and focus on the task of the day.

"I'm gonna go for a run!" she yells to the bathroom, not waiting for a reply.

About a 30 minutes later Lois comes back to their hotel room to find Clark on the couch watching a rerun of the movie Titanic. He doesn't seem to be paying attention to, more like staring into space. He also doesn't seem to notice Lois walking in either. She cleared her head on her run and realized she was thinking too deep into the situation. They will be sharing the same space for the week and maybe the jetlag caused them both not to make it to the bed. The morning cuddling was just a lack of space thing. Duh, that had to be it.

She walks behind the couch and crouches down so she's level with his ear. "Spoiler, the boat sinks." She gets back up and heads to the kitchen, she sure worked up a bigger appetite after the run.

Clark gets up from the couch and turns off the TV. "How was your run?" he heads towards the kitchen as well and grabs 2 water bottles. He tossed one at Lois – which she caught without looking – and took a swing of his.

"It was good," she answered "very much needed."

They both stood there nodding for a few seconds before the microwave went off, letting Lois know her re-reheated food is ready. "Well I'm going to eat and then we need to get ready to go to the conference."

"Ok, how long is it?" asks Clark, already heading to the room.

"From 12 to 3"

"Ok, well it's 10:07 right now so we have plenty of time."

"Yeah but we gotta be there 45 minutes early." She smiles and he just rolls his eyes playfully and walks into the room.

Later, as they are making their way inside, Lois is surprised to see the conference held at a Theater. She feels like she is just waiting for the opera singer to come out at any minute. Although it does have a giant cross at the top.

"I wonder why they held it here." She tells Clark. It wasn't a whisper but not loud enough for everyone to listen in.

"Not even to be funny but I don't think Horace has that many safer buildings. This is also the local church, so it doesn't get that much trouble," Clark explains.

Lois thought it was beautiful in all the crazy in this city that children and family had a place to feel safe together. She was about to voice her opinion until a lady announces they are about to start.

There's a bit of shuffle as some reporters take out their recorders. Some more people take the stage and stand towards the sidelines, waiting for the main speech to be over, Lois guesses it is the families of some of the victims. One woman in particular stands out to her, it's a woman in about her late 30s early 40s, she's crying silent tears and is holding a picture in her hands. Lois can't help but feel for her, it must be terrifying not to know where you'll see your loved ones again.

"Hello everyone and welcome to the Horace Abduction Press Conference. We've come here today to discuss our stratagem to get our hostages back. We've luckily had two people come forward: Curtis Damon, and Emmylou Greta. They've confessed that they took part in this heinous crime and gave us a location that we cannot disclose until further notice of a rescue. Just to go over a few important details that we know and are able to share, there are a total of 19 people missing in action and we have evidence to confirm that the local gang Intense Quota is behind this. Recently we received a video message. The face was blurred but the message clear, they threated to start killing off detainees the police need to find a way to get in there without suspicion."

Lois felt as though the newsmaker was speaking to her, she wasn't sure how but Lois' goal was to find her way into the kidnap club.

To her left Clark rolled his eyes, he knew Lois felt a connection with the lady's last comment and he hoped Lois wouldn't get into trouble while they visited California but deep in his heart he knew, especially with their specific story, that either Lois Lane would find trouble or trouble would find Lois Lane.

"We have a few families her that would like to say a few words, not all the families wanted to attend so bear with us but we were able to get 5 brave relatives of the hostages."

The first woman that walks up is holding a sleeping baby, she looks to about ready to break down. She tells the story about how her husband was working a late shift at the factory. He was calling her, telling her he was on his way home when she could hear him getting ambushed, them the line went dead. That was last week, it's been hard for her since, she has a total of 4 kids and they keep asking where their father is and she's scared he may not be coming home.

After her a man comes onto the stage, he lost his daughter and her boyfriend. Her daughter was going off to college but she wanted to move across state so she could go to the college her boyfriend is going to. Her father told her it was a bad idea because they've only been dating for a month and they may not last together. They argued before heading to bed, she must've snuck out because later the next day the police came knocking at his door letting him know the terrible news.

While listening to the next 2 families come up and tell how they lost their loved ones Lois could see Clark clench his fist and transferring her pen behind her ears and her notepad and recorder in one hand, she grabs hold of his wrist until he unclenches his hands. She slides her hand into his to let him know she is just as angry about these disappearances. She's incredibly thankful for the career path she chose, Lois was never one to stand on the sidelines of justice but she doesn't have powers like the blur, but she does have her incredible writing skills.

Finally, the lady Lois had first noticed walked up to the wooden podium. She wasn't sobbing anymore but small crying. The woman looked down at the picture she was holding, closed her eyes and took a deep breath before speaking, "Hello, my name is Kendra Otto. First I want to apologize to all the families, even the ones that couldn't be here, I know this must be a terrible time and I hope you can get reunited with your loved ones as soon as possible." She takes another deep breath, trying to suppress her tears, "I don't know what these _hooligans_ want with our loved ones but I do know we will not sit quietly while they continue to harass us.

"I would tell you all the tragedy of my life, like how my husband is cheating on me or how my 17 year old son is dealing with the wrong people or how my 12 year old daughter is dating a boy much too old for her. No, I'll spare the news my sob story, I know my life is crazy, and I wish for things to change every day, but one thing I would never wish is for them not to be in life again. They were the first victims of this, and it's been a terrible 2 months without them. I search for answers every day just to come up to the same dead ends. Somedays I want to beat the answers out of people, others days… other days I just want to cry my worries away and never leave the bed." She turns the picture around for the audience to see, "I know my family is dysfunctional… but I wouldn't have them any other way. All I ask to the people doing this, stop, please, just let them go. Thank you."

The newsmaker, whose name is Susie, lets the reporters know the last 30 minutes are allowed for questions. That goes by pretty smoothly with Lois asking enough questions and Clark even getting in a few himself. If they can get enough information, they will be done righting this story before the week is over.

After the conference Lois and Clark decide to stop for lunch at Wylie's Diner. While waiting for their food, Lois starts a conversation, "So what do you think we should do now?"

Clark, who had been sipping his drink, looked up at Lois and thought _here we go._ "Lois are you sure you don't wanna just sit this one out, I mean the police already had 2 people come up and confess. It looks like they're really getting somewhere."

"And I'm proud of them for that but how long are going to have to wait for families to be reunited?" Clark can see it in Lois' eyes that she was passionate and determined so he decided the best way to go along with her plans and make sure she stays safe. "Ok I'll help you, but we have to have communication at all times."

Lois was contemplative at first, sometimes Clark can be too overprotective and foil her plans but if it would get him off her back, then she has to make sacrifices to make ends meet. "Fine, but you have to stay opened minded." She's about to pull out the plans of her idea when the waiters comes back with their food. When she leaves Lois tells Clark a diner might not be the safest place to discuss their plans.

Half way through their meals Clark gets this distant look that doesn't go unnoticed by Lois. She sees him about to get up but notice that she's still there. Before she gets the chance to ask him what's the matter he speaks first, "I… I think I left my pen at the conference… I'll be right back."

He leaves to quickly before she gets the chance to respond. Lois is used to Clark's disappearances and his excuses but this was just pathetic, how important can a 50 cents pen be.

She sits and waits for him for about an hour and a half before throwing the money on the table and storming off. _If he had better things to do, he could've just said so._ She makes the 30 minute walks back to the hotel and storms into their room. Unsurprisingly Clark isn't there.

1 hour turns into 5 and by this time Lois' anger disappears and worry takes over. She has already called him over 50 ties but never did he answer. Lois thinks about going out to look for him but she sees it's getting dark outside. _Maybe he forgot how to get here and his phone died, don't get paranoid Lois, he'll be here any minute._

Even more time passes and Clark still isn't back yet. A few times Lois wanted to turn to a bottle and ease her nerves but she knew drinking herself to a stupor wouldn't be effective. She tried his phone a few more times but still no answer.

Lois looks out the window again and sees it has gotten even darker out, but she can't just sit around and worry herself to death. For all she knows he could have gotten kidnapped. She's hopes beyond hope that it isn't true.

She retraces their steps through the day, going to the theater—twice—, the restaurant and even the park, but everyone she asks say they haven't seen him. She asks herself how could a 6'5 farmboy not stand out but knows that wouldn't help herself.

After hours of searching for him, Lois stops on an empty street and puts her head in her hands. "I just don't understand, where could he possibly be."

She doesn't feel like he was kidnapped, _I mean Smallville maybe a simple farmboy, but he isn't light or manipulative, he could've easily fought them off._

She stands there for a few more minutes, thinking, before hearing someone talk, "Hey toots, how can I make it better."

She lifts her head out of her hands and looks up at her visitor, the man is about 6'2 and has tattoos all over his arms and face. She ignores his and he walks closer to her, when he gets too close for comfort, she takes few steps back and acknowledges him, "Look man, I don't know who you are but I'm not in the mood to kick your ass today so just back off."

Lois starts to walk off until he grabs her arm, she whips around and punches him in the face. She hits him hard enough to trickle blood. He spits it out and glares at her. "You have no idea who you're messing with b*tch."

Before Lois has the time to try and make an escape, he grabs at her again, this time causing pain. Before she gets the chance to scream out, he throws her to the ground. Lois tries to get up but he kicks her in the side.

One last thing she sees is a van pull up and feels herself being carried into it. _I'm sorry Clark, I got myself into trouble… again._

Then her world goes black.

 **Wow, haha I don't even know what to say.**

 **Well let me know how you guys like it.**

 **Arrianna Out!**


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